VOL. 52 ISSUE 28 JULY 14, 2015 P89
Project 156 the prototype
for a new Victory production
streetbike motor?
Yes, we wanted to go and
test different things with it out
on the track, and I think in 2016
you'll be able to see the fruits of
our guys' labors on this in the
showroom.
So we're essentially looking
at a new Victory line with that
engine that'll be launched in
2016 as a 2017 model range?
Potentially, yes. We'll launch
it sometime during the calendar
year of 2016. It will be a mid-
sized bike, almost 1200cc.
1200cc is of course the
twin-cylinder Superbike ca-
pacity limit. Could we see a
Victory superbike?
We have a lot of things we
could do with that engine!
It was slightly surprising to
see Victory as the brand that
Polaris went racing with at
Pikes Peak, because Indian
has always been perceived
to be the sportier one of your
two brands, with a glorious
competition history stretching
back 110 years. Is Indian ever
going to go racing, as well?
That has to be the number
one question I've been asked
since we acquired the Indian
brand back in 2011! I've always
said "later on," but now you're
the first person I can tell that in
calendar year—late 2016 or early
2017—you'll see Indian go racing
in AMA Flat Track.
I don't have anything more
to tell you at this stage, beyond
the fact that the decision has
been made, and we're definitely
going racing with Indian in the
oval track world with a factory-
supported team.
It presupposes therefore
that you will be working on an
Indian performance race mo-
tor, maybe a 750. Are you?
Sorry, that's all I can tell
you right now. But we're really
excited about this, and will give it
our best shot!
Is there a limitation on how
many cylinders any future
Indian engine should have?
Will Indian only ever make
traditional-style air-cooled
V-twin engines? Or will you
embrace more modern tech-
nology? Can you envisage
making a four-cylinder Indian
Superbike?
There's a good percentage
of our potential customers who
would actually like us to make
only classic V-twin cruisers. But
in studying the brand and spend-
ing a lot of time with our product
development team, I understand
that Indian has the opportunity to
go wherever it would like to go
in terms of product. So I'd like to
see Indian stretching far beyond
